Thank you for the compliments. No book that I know of, I just started using some copper wires and beads. The dragonfly is hung by a fish leeder, from a large coiled piece of copper "pipe" wire that sits on the bottom of the pond and spirals up above the water. When the fish hit this "pipe", wire, it makes the dragonfly jiggle. I have also seen them nip at it as some of the beads look like their food.

I've been reading more about mosquito abatement programs & the dangers of insecticides since I wrote the original email, and frankly, it scares the bajeebers out of me. And then, of course, I got the old "Nothing is wrong. The insecticides only kill mosquitoes." (That from the mosquito abatement people.) And, "Insect populations vary from week to week, and year to year." Okay, that made me mad. Will you forgive me if I climb on my soapbox again, for just a little while? I'm worried over here! "Insect populations vary from year to year" is an excuse used by people who promote pesticides. Oh, it's true - the populations DO vary from week to month to year to year. But they're using it as a temporary cover-up for something that they don't want us to see. It silences us. It makes us feel unqualified - our observations aren't worth anything, because we're not scientists. We haven't conducted a long-term scientific study, we could be wrong. It makes us doubt our own observations. And maybe it stops us from worrying. Makes us think, okay, if something was really wrong, SOMEBODY would notice and do something. Until we see the same problem repeating itself. We see the population continue to decline. Sure, they can tell me that the Gulf Fritillary butterflies just aren't here yet this year. But when they never turn up in their former numbers? The next year, either? This is the 4th year - where are they? We need to quit listening to the pesticide promoters, and start believing our own eyes. Our own instincts. This really is a problem. And it's not just the butterflies that are in trouble. I've learned that many mosquito abatement programs are over-spraying with chemicals that are toxic to us, too. AND - there are safer larvacides (to kill the juvenile mosquitoes), and alternative methods of control. Those aren't being used very often at all. The really sad thing is that the pesticides are working very well. Just not on mosquitoes. Leslie

I have to disagree with many people saying Dragonflies will fly away from your property or do not control the Mosquitoes. Also they do not need a permanent source of water to thrive in an area. I lived on a ranch in Waller, TX (a little to the NorthWest of Houston). Anytime of the day or night I went more than a couple of miles from the ranch I got eaten alive by Mosquitoes. On the ranch and other nearby ranches there were Dragonflies by the dozens. There was no permanent water anywhere in the area except a small ( 10' x 5') man made Goldfish pond in the yard of a house a mile away and they chlorinated it (which would kill any insect eggs or larvae). The only possible place for these Dragonflies to lay eggs and mature was the same places Mosquitoes had, stagnant water, like rain collected in old tires or elsewhere. I suspect like most species they adapt to their environment. If scientists give them ideal conditions they will take advantage by staying in the form, larvae, that enable them to live the longest life. If all they have are short term sources of water available they will mature quickly and reproduce and the eggs will remain dormant until water is available again.

Somehow those feet look familiar from a post some months ago. Interesting concept, sizing via underscores. Of course, this depends on the viewer's screen resolution.